NORTH CAROLINA STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE Office of Archives and History Department of Cultural Resources
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Sunset Terrace Historic District Asheville, Buncombe County, BN1828, Listed 12/16/2005 Nomination by Clay Griffith Photographs by Clay Griffith, December 2004
See photo at the end of the nomination NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Rev. 10-90)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the information requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items.
1. Name of Property historic name Sunset Terrace Historic District other names/site number
2. Location street & number 9-48 Sunset Terrace not for publication N/A city or town Asheville vicinity N/A state North Carolina code NC county Buncombe code 021 zip code 28801
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this _X_ nomination/____ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property __X_ meets ____ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant ___ nationally ___ statewide _X_ locally. ( ___ See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
______Signature of certifying official Date
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources ______State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property ____ meets ____ does not meet the National Register criteria. ( ___ See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
______Signature of commenting or other official Date
______State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby certify that this property is: Signature of the Keeper Date of Action
____ entered in the National Register ___ See continuation sheet. ____ determined eligible for the National Register ___ See continuation sheet. ____ determined not eligible for the National Register ____ removed from the National Register ____ other (explain): ______
______Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, North Carolina Name of Property County and State
5. Classification Ownership of Property Category of Property Number of Resources within Property (Check as many boxes as apply) (Check only one box) (Do not include previously listed resources in the count) _X_ private ___ building(s) Contributing Noncontributing ___ public-local _X_ district 9 2 buildings ___ public-State ___ site 0 0 sites ___ public-Federal ___ structure 0 0 structures ___ object 0 0 objects 9 2 Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed Name of related multiple property listing In the National Register (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) N/A N/A
6. Function or Use Historic Functions Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions) (Enter categories from instructions) DOMESTIC/single-dwelling DOMESTIC/single dwelling DOMESTIC/secondary structure DOMESTIC/secondary structure
7. Description Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions) foundation Brick; Concrete roof Asphalt Tudor Revival walls Brick Craftsman Stucco Other: Chalet Wood/shingle Wood/plywood other Wood/half-timbering Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, North Carolina Name of Property County and State
8. Statement of Significance Applicable National Register Criteria Areas of Significance (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property (Enter categories from instructions) for National Register listing) Architecture _ A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.
_ B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
X C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and Period of Significance distinguishable entity whose components lack 1913 - 1920 individual distinction.
_ D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. Significant Dates Criteria Considerations 1913 (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.) 1915 Property is: 1920
_ A owned by a religious institution or used for Significant Person religious purposes. (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) N/A _ B removed from its original location.
_ C a birthplace or a grave. Cultural Affiliation N/A _ D a cemetery.
_ E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
_ F a commemorative property. Architect/Builder Parker, Charles N. – architect _ G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance Parker, Harry L. - engineer within the past 50 years.
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS): Primary Location of Additional Data
___ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 X State Historic Preservation Office CFR 67) has been requested. ___ Other State agency ___ previously listed in the National Register ___ Federal agency ___ previously determined eligible by the National ___ Local government Register ___ University ___ designated a National Historic Landmark X Other ___ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # ______Name of repository: ___ recorded by Historic American Engineering Pack Memorial Library, Asheville, NC Record # ______Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, North Carolina Name of Property County and State
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property 2.3 acres
UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
1 17 360370 3942260 3 ____ Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing 2 ____ 4 ______See continuation sheet
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By name/title Clay Griffith organization Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc. date August 12, 2005 street & number 825-C Merrimon Ave., #345 telephone (828) 281-3852 city or town Asheville state NC zip code 28804
Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner (Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.) name multiple owners (see continuation sheet) street & number telephone city or town state zip code
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number __7_ Page _1_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC
Section 7. Narrative Description
The Sunset Terrace Historic District is a small residential enclave located off Macon Avenue to the north of downtown Asheville in Buncombe County, North Carolina. Nestled on a sloping site, the district consists of six houses with detached garages situated on a single street, Sunset Terrace, which lends its name to the district. Rose Mary Byrne, an Asheville transplant from New York, developed the property as residences and rental cottages from a single 2.3-acre tract. The cohesive character of the district is due in large part to the work of local architect Charles N. Parker, who designed the six cottages, and his brother, Harry L. Parker, an engineer who laid out the streets and landscaping.
Sunset Terrace, the street, traverses the property from Macon Avenue on the east to Woodlink Road on the west, meandering through the property and looping around two cottages—Westview and Blossoms. The narrow winding street, steep topography, and mature vegetation give the neighborhood its distinct, insular feel, which is enhanced by the limited access and minimal through-traffic.
Miss Byrne acquired the property in April 1913, and at the time it was bordered by Macon Avenue on the east, Dr. Carl V. Reynolds’ tract to the south, the Asheville Country Club golf course to the west, and the Grove Park Inn (NR, 1973) to the north. The Grove Park Inn, which was completed three months after Byrne bought her property, stands on Macon Avenue approximately one-half mile to the northeast of Sunset Terrace. The success of the inn significantly influenced the development and character of the surrounding areas in the twentieth century through the type of visitors drawn to the inn and its architectural style. Five acres immediately adjacent to Sunset Terrace on the north were later sold to Curtis and Katherine Bynum, who built a grand Tudor Gothic style stone house in the early 1920s. To the south, the Dr. Carl V. Reynolds House (NR, 1982), an imposing Neoclassical Revival style dwelling, became the focal point of a residential development along Edgemont Road located immediately south of Sunset Terrace.
The inventory list for the Sunset Terrace Historic District is organized chronologically, following the construction of the six cottages from earliest to last. This order generally follows ascending street numbers, moving from east to west along the street through the district. In addition to the six cottages, five outbuildings (four garages and a playhouse) are located within the district; they are listed after their associated cottage to the extent possible. Both Westview (#7) and Blossoms (#10) share a single garage (#9), which appears in the inventory list after the entry for Westview cottage.
1. Rosemary Cottage. 10 Sunset Terrace. 1913. Contributing building
Rosemary Cottage is a two-story, Tudor Revival style frame dwelling covered with wood shingles on the second story above stucco and applied half-timbering on the first story. Situated at the crest of a knoll NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number __7_ Page _2_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC overlooking the entire Sunset Terrace property, Rosemary is approached from the southeast along a gravel driveway that passes to the east of the house. Resting on a brick foundation, the cottage is capped by a hip roof with a prominent central cross gable over a projecting bay on the west side. A shallow projecting bay on the east side is topped by a hip roof, and the single-leaf entry is sheltered by a shed-roof canopy supported on triangular braces. An attached, partial-width, shed-roof porch on the west side—extending across the center polygonal bay to the northwest corner—has been enclosed with multi-light windows in groups of four; a single-leaf entry is located at the south end of the enclosed porch. On the south side of center bay, the second story is cantilevered above the first story and supported on a carved bracket at the southwest corner. Windows are typically eight-light wood casements on the first story and six-over-six double-hung sash on the second story.
Rosemary Cottage was constructed in 1913 for Rose Byrne as her primary residence. Byrne resided here until her death, and the property was sold to Charles W. R. Radeker in 1925. The house was owned by Radeker, and subsequently his daughters, Miss Carrie E. Radeker and Ruth Radeker Cooper, until 1950. The present owner, Lee Anderson, acquired the property with her husband, Jack, in 1979, having previously owned Violet and Westview cottages. Mr. Anderson was owner of the Anderson Company, a mortgage loan brokerage firm, from its founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1982.
2. Garage. 1913. Contributing building
Two-story, one-bay garage, located at the end of a gravel driveway, is set into hillside to the northeast of Rosemary Cottage and below the grade of Macon Avenue. The simple rectangular building has brick foundation walls and a frame upper story covered with wood shingles and lit by six-over-six double-hung wood sash. The building is capped by a hip roof with asphalt shingles.
3. Garage. 1915. Contributing building
One and one-half story, two-bay Tudor Revival style frame garage containing a second floor apartment—built as a caretaker’s cottage—is located at a sharp bend in the road northwest of Rosemary cottage and to the east of Westview. A clipped gable roof with exposed rafter ends shelters the building, which has walls covered with stucco and applied half-timbering. Brick veneer on both sides and the rear rises approximately three feet above ground level to a water table. Double-leaf wood garage doors operate on rollers, with the original hardware and metal rod remaining intact. A single-leaf door and six-over-six double-hung window are located in the north gable end; a wood ladder extends from the slope of the ground to the door threshold for access. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number __7_ Page _3_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC
4. Primrose Cottage. 9 Sunset Terrace. 1913. Contributing building
Primrose Cottage is a two-story, L-shaped, gable-roof, Tudor Revival style dwelling with a two-story polygonal bay projecting from the inner angle of the “L.” Situated in a small, landscaped hollow below the street level, the cottage is covered in stucco with half-timbering applied on the second story. The façade (east) features a prominent front gable and polygonal southeast corner tower under a hip roof with an attached, full-width, shed-roof porch supported on square posts. A wall dormer topped by a shed-roof and a single-leaf entry under a segmental arch opening are located on the north side. A wall dormer on the west side is topped by a gable roof, and a gabled ell is located at the southwest corner. Windows are typically paired six-light wood casements.
Built for Rose Byrne in 1913, Primrose Cottage was one of the first cottages built on Sunset Terrace. Amy Coyler purchased the property in 1925, following Byrne’s death, and owned it until her own passing in 1949. Julia Coyler inherited the cottage from her sister in 1950, but sold it one month later to Guy and Trula Johnson, who owned the property until 1978. Johnson was vice-president of Bowers Store, a department store located on Patton Avenue in downtown Asheville. The present owner acquired the property in 2003, and completed a lengthy restoration of the house in 2004.
5. Garage. Ca. 1985. Non-contributing building
One-story, one-bay garage is covered with stucco and half-timbering, is topped by a front-facing gable-on-hip roof with asphalt shingles, and rests on a tall stucco-covered foundation. The applied dark- stained half-timbering, exposed rounded rafter ends, and solid wood roll-up door contrast sharply with the lighter colored stucco walls. A modern single-leaf metal door is located on the side nearest the rear of Primrose Cottage.
6. Rambler Cottage. 23 Sunset Terrace. 1915. Contributing building
Rambler Cottage is an imposing two-story, Tudor Revival style frame dwelling covered with wood on the second story shingles above stucco and applied half-timbering on the first story and situated on a steeply sloping site below the street. The façade (east) is dominated by the tall side gable roof with two large gabled dormers covered with stucco and applied half-timbering that rise to either side of the gabled entry porch, which is supported on wood posts with projecting beams. A gable-roof, screened side porch extends to the south and wraps around the west side of the house, and a 1990s gable roof addition to the house extends to the north. Windows are typically twelve-light wood casements. The rear (west) elevation is dominated by a central gable-roof bay that is slightly recessed and flanked by gabled roof dormers. The NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number __7_ Page _4_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC exposed basement level is sheltered by the projecting bays above, which are supported by paired wood posts and brackets. A patio and stone retaining wall were added ca. 2004.
Built in 1915 for Rose Byrne, Rambler Cottage (along with Westview) was sold in 1925 to Miss Maria Louise Stevenson following Byrne’s death. Miss Stevenson sold the property in 1926 to Eugene Sly. Ruth Radeker Cooper, who also owned Rosemary Cottage, purchased the house in 1937 and kept it until 1950, when it was sold to David and Sadine Latham. Latham worked as a salesman for U. S. Rubber. The present owners acquired the property in 2000.
7. Westview Cottage. 26 Sunset Terrace. 1915. Contributing building
Westview Cottage is a two-story, Tudor Revival style frame dwelling covered with wood shingles on the second story above stucco and applied half-timbering on the first story. The façade (south) of Westview presents a compact arrangement with a single-leaf entrance at the southwest corner, fifteen-light wood casement windows on the first story, three-over-one and twelve-over-one double-hung sash on the second story, and projecting polygonal bays at the southeast and northeast corners. The hip roof features a front eyebrow vent, prominent interior brick chimney, exposed rafter ends, and polygonal roof forms above the corner bays. The north side of the cottage, however, presents a dramatic three-story elevation created by the steeply sloping site and accentuated by the vertical half-timbering members that extend along the exposed basement walls. A central bay is approached by brick steps, contains a single-leaf entry flanked by slatted wood screens at the lowest level, and features projecting bays supported by brackets at each of the upper two levels. A third entrance is located on the lower story of the polygonal bay at the northeast corner of the house. Six-over-six and eight-over-eight double-hung windows are located at the northwest corner and west side on the first story, while nine-over-one double-hung windows are located at the northeast corner of the house.
Built for Rose Byrne in 1915, Westview Cottage (along with Rambler) was sold in 1925 to Miss Maria Louise Stevenson. Miss Stevenson, a Missouri native and minister in the Christian Science Church, came to Asheville from Chicago and resided in Westview following Byrne’s death. Carolina Mortgage Company foreclosed on Miss Stevenson’s property in January 1933 and sold it in 1937 to Henry and Helen Hudson (Stevenson’s sister). The Hudsons sold the cottage back to Miss Stevenson in 1940 and it remained in Miss Stevenson’s ownership until 1949, when it was sold to George and Randolph MacAtee. MacAtee was a physician. The present owners acquired Westview in 1986.
8. Playhouse. Ca. 1990. Non-contributing building NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number __7_ Page _5_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC
One-story, side gable, frame playhouse with an engaged porch supported on wood posts, plywood siding, and vinyl windows.
9. Garage. 1915. Contributing building
One-story, two-bay garage is located between Westview and Blossoms cottages and shared by the owners. Constructed with brick side walls and a concrete block rear wall set below grade, the garage is sheltered by a flat roof behind low parapets. A brick center wall divides the two bays, which are accessed by wood paneled roll-up doors. A curving fieldstone retaining wall frames the entrance on the east side. A one- story, one-bay storage shed covered with board and batten siding was built on the garage at grade at the rear. The shed faces south onto the street that curves between Blossoms and Rambler cottages.
10. Blossoms Cottage. 32 Sunset Terrace. 1915. Contributing building
Blossoms Cottage is a two-story, Craftsman style frame dwelling covered with wood shingles and a decorative band of board and batten siding between the first and second story windows. The rectangular block of the house and slightly shorter projecting west wing are each topped by a clipped gable roof with exposed purlin brackets and triangular braces in the clipped gable ends. The house rests on a brick foundation with a full basement exposed on the north and west sides. Windows are typically six-over-six double-hung sash; multi-light casements located in the upper story of west end bay suggest that it was once used as a sleeping porch. The single-leaf entry at the east end of the cottage is sheltered by a shed roof canopy supported on triangular braces. The cottage also features a wraparound wood deck partially sheltered by a pergola at the first story of the west end. A brick paved parking area is located on the south side of the house. A modern lattice fence and an original curving, rusticated concrete block retaining wall border the west end of the property. Pillars located at the south end of the wall and flanking the concrete steps at the north end are constructed of concrete block with recessed panels and decorative caps.
Constructed in 1915 for Rose Byrne, Blossoms is the only cottage that Byrne sold before her death. Byrne sold the property in 1921 to Amy Coyler, who retained the property (and even lived here for a few years in the 1930s) until 1942, when she sold it to D. Lowrey and Virginia Lasher. Lasher worked as a bookkeeper for the Farmers Federation, a local agricultural co-operative. The present owner acquired the property in 2000.
11. Violet Cottage. 48 Sunset Terrace. 1920. Contributing building
Violet Cottage is a two-story, front-gable frame dwelling covered with wood shingles and distinguished by a gable-roof two-tier portico on the south side and Chalet style roof and gable details. The NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number __7_ Page _6_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC main block of the house was enlarged by one bay to the west in 2003. The cottage rests on a brick foundation with full basement exposed on the south and west sides. A prominent interior brick chimney rises to a corbelled cap. Windows are paired six-light casements on the first story and six-over-six double-hung sash on the second story. The shingle siding follows a regular pattern below a solid wood sill band on the second story. The shingle pattern above the sill band incorporates decorative banding. The deep roof overhangs are supported by exposed purlin brackets with decoratively carved triangular braces and rafter ends. The gable ends are covered with ornamental battens applied over flush board siding. The two-tier porch features an open first-story porch with a cut-out balustrade and supports of three, square wood posts at the corners sheltering a double-leaf entrance. The upper story is an enclosed sleeping porch with twelve-light windows above the bellcast shingled apron. A shallow one-story projecting bay on the east side is topped by a shed roof. The north side of the cottage opens onto wood deck, with a cantilevered second story balcony with a cut-out balustrade supported on heavy, carved beams.
Rose Byrne sold the parcel for Violet Cottage in 1917 to Amy Coyler, who had the house built. Violet was completed in 1920, and Coyler owned it until her death in 1949. Julia Coyler inherited the cottage from her deceased sister in 1950, but sold it one month later to Ralph and Marie King. King was employed as an interviewer with the North Carolina Employment Service Division. The present owners acquired the property in 2002. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number __8_ Page _7_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC
Section 8. Statement of Significance
The Sunset Terrace Historic District is an intact grouping of six eclectic cottages and associated outbuildings designed by prominent Asheville architect Charles N. Parker and built for Miss Rose Mary Byrne, a tuberculosis patient who came to Asheville for its healthful climate in 1906. The six cottages, built between 1913 and 1920, are all located on Sunset Terrace, and occupy the landscaped 2.3-acre tract acquired by Miss Byrne in 1913. The district is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C as an excellent local example of Tudor Revival, Craftsman, and Chalet styles of residential architecture. The period of significance is from 1913 to 1920, the period when the six cottages were designed and built. The district presents a cohesive collection of residential structures with a minimal amount of alterations and intrusions to the landscaped setting. Alterations and additions to the individual houses do not detract from the overall integrity of the district, which retains its historic appearance and character.
Rose Mary Byrne and Early Twentieth Century Asheville
Rose Mary Byrne (1880-1924) was the daughter of Dr. John and Mary Winifred Byrne of Brooklyn, New York. An Irish immigrant in the late 1840s, Dr. Byrne married Mary Winifred O’Connor in 1860 and sired a large family. He established himself as a respected physician who founded the Long Island College Hospital and was chief surgeon at St. Mary’s Hospital in Brooklyn. Despite his extensive medical background, Dr. Byrne’s family was devastated by the effects of tuberculosis. Dr. and Mrs. Byrne witnessed the death and burial of eleven of their thirteen children—five as young children and six as young adults. In February 1902, Dr. and Mrs. Byrne and their two surviving daughters, Evelyn and Rose, sailed from New York to Europe to seek treatment and respite. Dr. Byrne died of heart failure on October 1, 1902, at age 76, two weeks after addressing the International Obstetrical Congress in Rome.1
Following Dr. Byrne’s death, Rose Byrne remained in Switzerland for treatment of her pulmonary illness while Mrs. Byrne and Evelyn returned to the United States. As Rose Byrne’s condition improved, Evelyn grew increasingly ill, and she died four years later, in 1906, from tuberculosis. Soon after, Rose and her mother moved to Asheville, which was gaining a national reputation for its healthful climate and as a center for the treatment of tuberculosis. The small mountain city, situated at a moderate elevation in the southern Appalachian Mountains, attracted not only the leading doctors in the treatment of respiratory illnesses, but also wealthy patients from all over the country. Rose and Mary Winifred Byrne took up rooms at the Ridgewood Boarding House on South Main Street (present Biltmore Avenue) in Asheville, which later became St. Joseph’s Sanitarium. They later resided at Milfoil Cottage in Albemarle Park (NR district, 1978)
1 Joe Franklin, Rose Mary Byrne and the Cottages of Sunset Terrace (Asheville, NC: published by author, 2004), 1-9. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number __8_ Page _8_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC off of Charlotte Street to the north of downtown Asheville, and joined the city’s social life as members of St. Lawrence Catholic Church (NR, 1978) and the Asheville Country Club.2
Albemarle Park, more commonly known as the Manor Inn and cottages, was developed on forty-two acres on the slopes of Sunset Mountain and managed by Thomas Wadley Raoul for his father, William Greene Raoul, former president of the Central of Georgia Railroad. Twenty-year-old Thomas Raoul came to Asheville in 1897, primarily to recuperate from tuberculosis, and later became the foreman for the Albemarle Park development. The Raouls brought in New York architect Bradford L. Gilbert to design the rambling Manor Inn, Lodge (present day Gatehouse), and first five cottages. The Lodge, a Tudor Revival style building with tower and wood shingles over pebbledash stucco, was the first structure to be completed in 1898. The Shingle style inn opened on December 31, 1898, with an emphasis on home-like accommodations. It was enlarged with a new wing in 1903 and another in 1913. Built between 1898 and the 1910s and laid out on curvilinear streets, the numerous picturesque cottages, a mix of rental cottages and private residences, display variations of the Shingle, Craftsman, Tudor Revival, Rustic, and Swiss Chalet styles.3
Mary Winifred Byrne died in February 1913 at Milfoil Cottage. She was 72. Mrs. Byrne was buried in Brooklyn, and afterward Eugene Berard, Dr. Byrne’s attorney and trustee of the family estate, remained in Asheville to assist Rose Byrne with financial and legal matters. As the only living child of Dr. and Mrs. Byrne, Rose Byrne received a considerable inheritance, a portion of which was used to purchase a 2.3-acre tract from Thomas Raoul on April 29, 1913 located off Macon Avenue and adjacent to the Asheville Country Club (present Grove Park Inn Golf Course), approximately one-half mile north of Milfoil Cottage. Byrne immediately set out to develop the property in a manner akin to the Manor Inn and cottages. The Grove Park Inn, which is located a short distance northeast, opened in July 1913, three months after Rose Byrne purchased her property.4
Rose Byrne retained local architect Charles N. Parker, who had recently left the reputable firm of Smith and Carrier to open his own practice, to design two cottages, which she called “Rosemary” and
2 Franklin, 10-13. Also see Irby Stephens, “Asheville: The Tuberculosis Era,” North Carolina Medical Journal (September 1985), 455-63.
3 Jane Gianvito Mathews and Richard A. Mathews, The Manor and Cottages, Albemarle Park, Asheville, N.C. (Asheville, NC: Albemarle Park –Manor Grounds Association Inc., 1991), 24-30. Catherine W. Bishir, Michael T. Southern, and Jennifer F. Martin, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Western North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1999), 279-280.
4 Franklin, 13-14, 17-18. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number __8_ Page _9_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC
“Primrose.” Completed in 1913, Byrne established Rosemary cottage as her primary residence and offered Primrose for rent. Parker designed three more cottages—Rambler, Westview, and Blossoms—that were completed in 1915. In 1917, Byrne sold a small parcel at the west edge of her property to her dear friend Amy Coyler, who erected a sixth Parker-designed cottage, Violet, by 1920. Charles Parker’s brother, Harry L. Parker, helped to lay out the small neighborhood, which Byrne named “Sunset Terrace.” Harry L. Parker worked as a property manager and engineer for E. W. Grove Investments from 1913 to 1927, and was responsible for designing the residential areas of Grove Park (NR district, 1989), Kimberly Avenue (NR district amendment, 1990), and the Grovemont community in Swannanoa. Harry Parker prepared a plat of the Sunset Terrace property in November 1921, showing the location of the six cottages, garages, main road, and driveways.5
During the construction of the Sunset Terrace neighborhood, Rose Byrne incurred several unexpected expenses, including erosion of the road through the property. When Miss Byrne questioned the profitability of her investment, family advisor Berard suggested that the “precipitous declivity” of the property, which was responsible for the expensive drainage and road repair, might eventually add considerable value to the property “by affording such a grand west and south view for all the cottages.” Berard also explained that rapidly escalating property values in the city should adequately compensate for the high cost of building materials and the initially low rate of return on her rental cottages.6
In addition to her real estate project and active social life, Rose Byrne enjoyed traveling, often with her friend Amy Coyler, a former teacher and nurse who bought the property for Violet cottage from Byrne. Experiencing more health problems, Rose Byrne was diagnosed with diabetes in 1920, and sold Blossoms cottage to Coyler in 1921. Byrne’s declining health led her to rent a cottage in Highlands, North Carolina, in the summer of 1924, and she died in July that year. Byrne’s remaining four cottages were sold upon her death, including Primrose to Amy Coyler, Rosemary to C. W. R. Radeker, and Westview and Rambler to Maria Louise Stevenson. All of the cottages in Sunset Terrace have remained as private residences since the 1920s, with most of the cottages averaging eight subsequent owners after Rose Byrne and Amy Coyler. Primrose cottage is the exception with only four additional owners, each keeping the property for approximately twenty years. The architectural character of the neighborhood has survived, in part, due to covenants that Byrne requested be placed in the deeds to subsequent owners requiring that the existing roads and driveways always remain open “for the use and benefit of all the owners of property in Sunset Terrace” and that any later buildings or improvements “conform architecturally to the buildings now on the Sunset
5 Franklin, 14-16.
6 Eugene Berard, letter to Rose M. Byrne, March 11, 1916 (Quoted in Franklin, 17). NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number __8_ Page _10_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC
Terrace property.”7 It is a testament to Miss Byrne’s vision that later owners have worked diligently to preserve the neighborhood as her legacy.8
Architecture Context
The Sunset Terrace Historic District is an intact collection of residential architecture executed in the Tudor Revival, Craftsman, and Chalet styles. Designed by architect Charles N. Parker, four of the cottages embody the distinctive characteristics of the Tudor Revival style, one of several styles influenced by English architecture that became especially popular in Asheville during the early twentieth century. Richard Sharp Smith, supervising architect for the construction of George Vanderbilt’s Biltmore Estate (NR, 1966), was the man most responsible for introducing and popularizing English architectural models in Asheville. Born in England and professionally trained, Smith opened his architectural practice in Asheville in 1895. He designed more than two dozen buildings in Biltmore Village (NR multiple resource area, 1979), employing pebbledash stucco, brick, and half-timbered exteriors to invoke an English feeling. Smith designed the Young Men’s Institute (NR, 1977), at the corner of Eagle and Market streets in downtown Asheville, utilizing an English cottage form on a civic building. He went on to design numerous public and commercial buildings, churches, and domestic structures in Asheville neighborhoods such as Montford (NR district 1977), Chestnut Hill (NR district, 1983), and Grove Park.9
Charles Parker, a native of Hillsboro, Ohio, moved to Asheville in 1904 with his mother and brother, Harry, a civil engineer. Parker worked as a draftsman for Richard Sharp Smith, who joined with Albert Heath Carrier in the firm of Smith and Carrier in 1906. Parker was clearly influenced by Smith’s individual style and stayed on until around 1913, when he opened his own practice. Parker concentrated on Asheville’s lucrative residential market during his career, designing several imposing Tudor Revival style house in Biltmore Forest, but he became best known as the architect of the Grove Arcade (NR, 1976), a monumental Tudor Gothic commercial building constructed in the late 1920s on the site of the old Battery Park Hotel. One of the city’s most prominent developers and owner of the Grove Park Inn, Edwin Wiley Grove conceived of the Arcade, a reinforced concrete and steel structure covered with glazed terra cotta panels, as the base of an office tower, but Grove’s death and the onset of the Great Depression halted the project before
7 Buncombe County Register of Deeds Book 308, page 159 (July 1, 1925).
8 Franklin, 19-25.
9 Bishir, 263-264. Also see John Hardin Best, Kate Gunn, and Deena Knight, eds., An Architect and His Times: Richard Sharp Smith, A Retrospective (Asheville, NC: Historic Resources Commission of Asheville and Buncombe County, 1995), 8-9. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number __8_ Page _11_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC the tower was built. Parker later joined the firm of Six Associates after World War II and continued to practice architecture until his retirement in the late 1950s. He died at his home in Asheville in 1961.10
The Tudor Revival style—like the Shingle, Colonial Revival, and Craftsman styles—became popular across the country in the early twentieth century and appealed to buyers in Asheville’s fast-growing neighborhoods and suburbs. The earliest examples of Tudor Revival architecture in the United States date from the late nineteenth century, and the style achieved widespread popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s. Although the name alludes to sixteenth-century Tudor England, the style derives primarily from Medieval English prototypes, mixed with eclectic American expressions and materials. Tudor Revival style houses are generally united by an emphasis on steeply pitched, front-facing gables, and typically incorporate decorative half-timbering, grouped multi-pane windows, prominent chimneys, and stucco, masonry, or masonry- veneered walls. The use of masonry walls for Tudor Revival style houses was a variant more common in the United States than in England. The work of Richard Sharp Smith heavily influenced the use of the Tudor Revival style in Asheville, especially the vernacular English character created through the use of pebbledash stucco, brick, and half-timbering for exteriors and his elegant but comfortable interiors.11
The Craftsman style is also represented in the Sunset Terrace Historic District. This extremely popular architectural style grew out of the Arts and Crafts movement, which spread from England to the United States in the late nineteenth century. Gustav Stickley’s The Craftsman magazine (1901-1916) became the chief disseminator of Arts and Crafts beliefs in the United States, and his company, Craftsman Workshops, produced furniture that promoted design unity of both house and furnishings. He published house designs—complete working drawings and specifications—in The Craftsman that could be ordered from the company. Craftsman houses, as they came to be known, represented the Arts and Crafts ideal of vernacular revival, honest expression of structure, responsiveness to site, and the use of local materials for comfortable domestic architecture that provided “the proper atmosphere for the pursuit of the simple life.” The Arts and Crafts movement and Craftsman style in Asheville was made popular through resort architecture, especially the design and furnishings of the Grove Park Inn, built in 1913. In residential architecture, the Craftsman style often employed wood or shingle siding (frequently in combination), open eave overhangs with exposed roof rafters, decorative beams or braces in gable ends, and square or tapered porch posts supported by piers extending from above the porch floor to ground level without a break. Doors
10 “Charles N. Parker, Architect, Dies Here,” Asheville Citizen (July 31, 1961), and Bishir, 273-274. Also see Daniel J. Vivian, “Judge Junius G. Adams House National Register of Historic Places Nomination” (2000), and “Arcade Building National Register of Historic Places Nomination” (1976)
11 Virginia McAlester and Lee McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992), 355-358. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number __8_ Page _12_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC and windows also typically contained a distinctive glazing pattern with multi-pane areas across the top or multiple lights over a single pane in double hung sash.12
The Chalet style, while decidedly less common, sat easily in the built environment of Asheville, drew heavily from resort architecture, and directly responded to the mountainous landscape of the region. Perhaps best described as a subtype of the Craftsman and nineteenth-century Shingle styles, Chalet style houses were influenced by Swiss models as well as examples in the great summer camps of the Adirondack Mountains, whose rustic lodges inspired resort and camp architecture at Linville, Blowing Rock, and other sites in western North Carolina. Chalet style houses are typically defined by their wood shingle siding, steeply pitched roofs with broad eaves, and elaborate decorative and exposed structural woodwork. Clio cottage in Albemarle Park, designed by Bradford Gilbert and built ca. 1900, is a rare surviving example of the style. Although the Chalet style was not especially prevalent in Asheville, the romanticized concept of mountain living at the time greatly influenced not only the occasional Chalet style house, but also the much more prevalent examples of the Craftsman and Tudor Revival styles.
In her vision for Sunset Terrace, Rose Byrne was clearly influenced by the eclectic and picturesque character of Albemarle Park, where she lived for a time with her mother in Milfoil cottage. Built ca. 1900, Milfoil cottage was a Shingle style dwelling covered with heavy timber construction and decorative shingle patterns in the gable ends. In addition to the Tudor Revival style Lodge and rambling Shingle style inn, Albemarle Park was carefully landscaped and dotted with cottages rendered in the Tudor Revival, Shingle, Craftsman, Rustic, and Chalet styles. Byrne’s development was much smaller in scale and not intended as a resort of any kind, but it incorporated many elements of Albemarle Park’s planned community that extended on the slopes above the Manor Inn.
Sunset Terrace is remarkable as an intact and cohesive collection of popular residential architectural styles, which is attributable to both the vision of Rose Byrne for the development and the work of Charles Parker as architect for all six cottages. The Tudor Revival style of Rosemary, Primrose, Rambler, and Westview cottages show the influence of Asheville’s residential architecture, particularly the work of Richard Sharp Smith, who used forms, massing, and materials to imbue his domestic buildings with a distinctly English character. Drawing on his apprenticeship with Smith, Parker invested the Sunset Terrace cottages with a similar feel, but also incorporated eclectic elements from the Shingle, Craftsman, and Chalet styles—including the Craftsman-influenced Blossoms cottage and the Chalet-like Violet cottage. These
12 Elizabeth Cumming and Wendy Kaplan, The Arts and Crafts Movement, World of Art Series (New York: Thames and Hudson Inc., 1991), 107, 122-124, 141-142. Also see Bishir, 59-60, 69-73. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number __8_ Page _13_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC elements clearly reference the architecture of Albemarle Park and other Asheville landmarks such as the Grove Park Inn.
The few alterations and intrusions that have been introduced do not detract from the overall character of the Sunset Terrace neighborhood. Additions to Rambler and Violet cottages are in keeping with the design, materials, and workmanship of the original houses, and are generally detectable only on close inspection of the buildings. The Primrose cottage garage, built after 1980, also closely emulates the style of the house. Other additions to the structures and landscape, such as wood decks and fences, are minimal; they do not diminish the integrity of the district. The Sunset Terrace Historic District survives as a small residential enclave of picturesque Tudor Revival cottages that closely resembles the original vision of Rose Byrne and her architect, Charles Parker. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
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Section 9. Bibliography
Asheville City Directories
Best, John Hardin, Kate Gunn, and Deena Knight, eds. An Architect and His Times: Richard Sharp Smith, A Retrospective. Asheville, NC: The Historic Resources Commission of Asheville and Buncombe County, 1995.
Bishir, Catherine W., Michael T. Southern and Jennifer F. Martin. A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Western North Carolina. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1999.
Buncombe County Land Records Office
Buncombe County Register of Deeds Office
Cumming, Elizabeth, and Wendy Kaplan. The Arts and Crafts Movement. World of Art Series. New York: Thames and Hudson, Inc., 1991.
Franklin, Joe. Rose Mary Byrne and the Cottages of Sunset Terrace. Asheville, NC: published by author, 2004.
Mathews, Jane Gianvito, and Richard A. Mathews. The Manor & Cottages, Albemarle Park, Asheville, N.C. Asheville, NC: The Albemarle Park – Manor Grounds Association, Inc., 1991.
McAlester, Virginia, and Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Smith, Richard Sharp. My Sketch Book. Asheville, NC: Samuel J. Fisher, 1901.
Stephens, Irby. “Asheville: The Tuberculosis Era.” North Carolina Medical Journal (September 1985).
Swaim, Douglas. Cabins & Castles: The History & Architecture of Buncombe County, North Carolina. Asheville, NC: City of Asheville, County of Buncombe, and Division of Archives and History, 1981.
Vivian, Daniel J. “Judge Junius G. Adams House National Register of Historic Places Nomination.” Asheville, NC. October 28, 2000. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number _10_ Page __15_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC
Section 10. Geographical Data
Verbal Boundary Description
The nominated property for the Sunset Terrace Historic District is shown by a heavy line on the accompanying Buncombe County tax map, encompassing nine tax parcels 9649-07-77-2858, 3803, 3891, 3958, 3971, and 4877; and 9649-08-78-5000, 6729, and 6849.
Boundary Justification
The nominated property includes roughly the entire 2.3-acre tract originally purchased by Rose Mary Byrne from Thomas Wadley Raoul on April 29, 1913. Miss Byrne’s Sunset Terrace property was platted on November 17, 1921, by Harry L. Parker, who laid out the small neighborhood of six cottages with curving streets, driveways, garages, and landscape features.
Property Owners
Mrs. Lee H. Anderson Joseph W. and Janet L. Franklin Rosemary Westview 10 Sunset Terrace 26 Sunset Terrace Asheville, NC 28801 Asheville, NC 28801
Mr. Robert W. Weed Ms. Christine D. Longoria Primrose Blossoms 9 Sunset Terrace 32 Sunset Terrace Asheville, NC 28801 Asheville, NC 28801
Matthew W. and Kimberly L. Wood R. Gordon and Deborah K. Pirie Rambler Violet 23 Sunset Terrace 48 Sunset Terrace Asheville, NC 28801 Asheville, NC 28801 NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number _10_ Page __16_ Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC
Sunset Terrace Historic District – National Register Boundary Map (Source: Buncombe County Land Records Office) Scale: 1” = 100’
N NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval 1024-0018 (8-86)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
Section number _Photographs Page _17 Sunset Terrace Historic District Buncombe County, NC
Photograph Index
All photographs of the Sunset Terrace Historic District by Clay Griffith of Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc., in December 2004. Negatives are kept at the North Carolina Office of Archives and History Western Office in Asheville, North Carolina.
1. Overall view looking northwest along Sunset Terrace—Primrose Cottage, Westview Cottage, and Rosemary Cottage (left to right).
2. Rosemary Cottage, 10 Sunset Terrace, oblique view to northeast.
3. Primrose Cottage, 9 Sunset Terrace, front view facing west.
4. Garage (Primrose Cottage), 9 Sunset Terrace, view to southwest (Non-contributing resource).
5. Rambler Cottage, 23 Sunset Terrace, oblique front view to northwest.
6. Westview Cottage, 26 Sunset Terrace, oblique front view to north.
7. Garage (Rosemary Cottage), 10 Sunset Terrace, oblique view to east.
8. Blossoms Cottage, 32 Sunset Terrace, west end elevation.
9. Violet Cottage, 48 Sunset Terrace, oblique view to north.